Surprising
by Late Night Angel
Summary: Apparently Hikari Tanaka and Ryoma Echizen were childhood friends. She doesn't remember him at all. All she knows now is he's great at Tennis and loves it as much as she does. That's all she has to know to become friends with him  again . Slight RyomaxOC.
1. Chapter 1

"The Echizens?" I asked as my racket made contact with the tennis ball and the ball went flying over the net. My father barely moved his feet as his racket extended out and hit the ball. I watched its trajectory and ran over to the left corner of the court. "Like, Nanjiro Echizen? The tennis player?"

"Yes, we knew them before they moved to America. Why don't you remember this?" I bent down and swung my racket to hit a volley. Echizen…that name sounded very familiar to me. Why couldn't I remember? It was on the tip of my tongue.

"She doesn't remember because her brain is too focused on tennis all the time." Touya, my older brother, said from his position on the porch of the dojo. He was laying down with a book on the porch. I turned to glance at him only long enough to stick my tongue out at him. He pulled his eyelid down with one finger and stuck his tongue out at me.

"Hikari, pay attention!"

"Ah!" I ran over cross court to grab the net ball that my father had just hit. Thank God I was fast or that would have been out of my reach.

"You played tennis with his son, Ryoma. You two used to play all the time together. His son has become one of the wonders of the young tennis world. He has won four American national titles, in a row." My father's brown eyes were looking straight at me. He didn't even have to look at the ball to return it to me. It is a shame he hurt his elbow all those years back…he could've been such a great pro player.

"Ryoma Echizen?" I pondered the name for a moment. Ryoma…why on earth couldn't I remember? I hit the ball again. "I don't remember."

Dad shook his head. "You amaze me sometimes, Hikari. He had black hair and golden eyes? Used to wear a baseball cap all the time? I am telling you, you used to play with him. You two were practically inseparable." He returned my ball by stepping over one step to the left. I needed to hit farther back by the baseline if I planned on scoring a point.

I shook my head, trying to remember. It was hard enough playing tennis with him and talking at the same time. I was already panting because he had me running up and down the court, like always. Talking was just using up my energy even faster. I didn't want to have a conversation while playing tennis. Couldn't he have waited till afterwards?

This was always how our conversations were though. He would bring up something while we were playing a match. It was kind of like our bonding time.

"Think about it Hikari,"

I hit the ball back and tried to remember. Black hair and golden eyes…baseball cap…Suddenly an image of a small boy all scraped up and covered in sweat with a white baseball cap twisted sideways on his head. He had a tennis racket in his hand as he bent down to pick up the ball. I was there with him, right alongside him just as equally sweaty and scraped.

"O-oh!" I said suddenly. "I remember him!" I stood still for a moment as the realization hit me. Ryoma Echizen…he and I had been childhood friends because our fathers were friends.

The ball whooshed past me and bounced right inside the baseline and went out. "Game-set and match to dad! Six games to love," Touya called barely looking up. I looked at the ball behind me shocked. I hadn't even realized he hit it!

"Nya! No fair!" I exclaimed throwing my hands up. "You distracted me!" I accused pointing my racket at my father. My father laughed quietly as he walked off the court.

"You allowed yourself to be distracted, Hikari. You need to focus on the game." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"I want another match!" I demanded. It didn't matter that I was sweaty and exhausted. I had wanted to take at least one game from my dad today! My dad chuckled and grinned up at me.

"All right," My dad said as he started back towards the court. I picked up the tennis ball and grinned.

"Ah-ah no!" My mother's voice came from inside the dojo as she started to walk out. I turned my head to see her lean down and snatch the book out of my brother's hands. "We are going over to the Echizens for dinner, remember? You have to get ready, especially you Hikari. I expect you to look like a girl and go not sweaty."

"Nya, but mom," I whined. She wanted to me go looking like a girl meant she wanted me to put some sort of skirt of dress on. No freaking way. This Ryoma was no one to impress. "If this Ryoma likes tennis as much as I remember," though truthfully I didn't remember all that much, except what he looked like. I figure he must love tennis, if he's won four national titles in America. "Maybe he will want to have a match!"

"No, no tennis for one night." My mother stood firm with her arms crossed. I rolled my eyes as I wiped the sweat off my brow. Touya had stood up at this point and was making his way back inside. "Now go shower, Hikari. Touya go change and Hideki stop tempting your daughter! I have a hard enough time pulling her from that stupid racket to get her to do anything without you indulging her."

Dad sighed and mussed up his hair. "All right, you heard your mother."

I groaned. "Fine, but tomorrow we are having a rematch." I told my father as I started to finally walk off the court with my racket in hand. "Is Uncle coming with us?"

My father grinned at me. "It is a date." My mother answered my question about my uncle, "No, I can't drag him from his TV. You know how he gets." She shook her head and I grinned. I loved my uncle, he gave my mom such a hard time. He was like my hero.

"Wipe that smug little grin off your face, Hikari," My mom stated as I walked past her. I scoffed and shoved my hands into my shorts pockets. I always practiced in shorts when I played tennis with my father or on my own. I thought they were much more comfortable than the mandatory skirts we had to wear at school practice or in competition.

"Let's see if we can avoid you two fighting at the Echizens eh?" My dad said. He rubbed the back of his head as he turned to my mother. I simply kept walking to the bathroom. My mother and I couldn't get along because I was everything she didn't want her daughter to be.

I walked into the bathroom. We had a traditional bath, but also a shower that my mother had installed when we moved in here when I was just a baby. She hated living in a dojo because it lacked some of the higher luxury goods she had wanted. However, when my Uncle asked my father to move in and help him care for this martial arts dojo in his old age, my father said yes without hesitation.

I opted for the shower as I got undressed. I guess I should introduce myself huh? My name is Hikari Tanaka. I'm twelve years old, a first year at Seishun Gakun, or Seigaku. I am a part of the girls' tennis club. If you hadn't noticed, tennis is my life. I love it and my goal is to go pro one day. For now, though, I'm content to play and get even better.

In addition to tennis, I practice martial arts and gymnastics. I know what you are thinking, gymnastics? Talk about one of these things is not like the other right? Basically, my mom would only allow me to continue both tennis and martial arts if I also did gymnastics. She insisted that a girl should not be as into tennis as I am and that I need a more girly sport. I kid you not, she said that. I didn't mind too much, I like gymnastics well enough. I get annoyed when it takes away from my tennis, though. Most of the time, however, it actually makes my tennis better because I am more flexible I can do moves on the tennis court that not even the best tennis players can.

Like I said, I mostly don't mind gymnastics. I practice martial arts mostly because my Uncle and father are masters of jujitsu and everyone in my family is expected to learn it. The dojo we live in is actually a jujitsu dojo and my uncle and father run classes here. My older brother Touya, who is sixteen, is one of the best in modern Japan when it comes to high school jujitsu. He quit tennis two years ago so he could focus completely on his martial arts. I think the fact that he quit tennis was a tragedy; he had been one of the best and had such great potential. He is also a part of his soccer club. However, if I am annoying enough and he is in a good mood I can get him to play a tennis match with me.

I'm about 151 cm tall, or 4'11", and 45 kg or about 100 pounds. So, I'm kind of short, but it never stops me. I have dark blue hair that goes an inch below my shoulders and green-blue eyes. I'm kind of average looking and I don't mind. Basically, I am an athletic tomboy.

What else is there? You already know I live with my Uncle, mom, dad, and older brother in this dojo. Location wise, we live in Tokyo, Japan. I also have an older sister, but she doesn't live with us anymore. She lives in an apartment in the city with her fiancé. She is a music teacher at a primary school. Hm, yeah I think that's about all you have to know about me. You'll learn more about my family as we go on.

An hour later, we were standing outside of the Echizen's dojo, or the dojo that they were staying in anyway. My mom was glowering at me as we stood outside the door. We had had a big fight about what I was wearing to this, and I had won. I refused to dress in a skirt or dress saying that there was no need for a simple dinner. I had ended up wearing a pair of my snugger fitting jeans and a t-shirt that I had gotten from a tournament I was in last week. My hair was pulled back in one braid.

My brother looked completely bored and my dad actually looked worried. I wasn't sure whether because he was worried about seeing Nanjiro after so many years or about my mother and I fighting. After a knock on the door the screen door opened to a monk with short brown hair and stubble on his chin.

"Eh Nanjiro-san!" My father exclaimed. Nanjiro grinned lazily with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Hey Hideki," He greeted as he stepped aside to allow us in. Touya was the first to enter giving a gracious smile at our host Nanjiro and his wife. We all followed soon after.

"Nanjiro, I am sure you remember my children, Touya and Hikari," he gestured in our direction. I saw Touya smile out of the corner of my eye and I gave a small nod towards Nanjiro. I couldn't believe I was meeting Nanjiro Echizen! The legendary Samurai Nanjiro…he had essentially taken the Japanese tennis world by storm before dropping off the face of the earth.

He certainly didn't look as intimidating as his stats made him sound. Nanjiro looked around, "Ryoma is around here somewhere. Nanako, where is my useless son?"

"I'm right here, old man," came a voice. I looked up to see a boy who looked about my age sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. He had a white baseball cap on that hid his eyes and a red warm up jacket on with a pair of blue shorts. On his lap sat the newest issue of tennis pro monthly, I would know because I had received the same issue just yesterday in the mail. I couldn't help but grin, so he was into tennis.

"You should socialize, Ryoma!" exclaimed Nanjiro turning to his look at his son. Ryoma shrugged his shoulders and shut the magazine. It didn't do much good as dinner progressed Ryoma said hardly anything at all. The conversation was mostly forced from us kids. They would ask about schools and sports. The only time Rymoa ever spoke up was when it was about tennis.

Luckily the dinner passed without incident and the adults and Touya were talking about something. I wasn't paying attention and I didn't want to talk to anyone. Ryoma had retreated to the porch and had his tennis magazine out again.

Curious, I walked over to Ryoma and peered over his shoulders. Maybe I could have a conversation about tennis with him. After all, we were childhood friends right? He was reading an article on Kenji Sato. I peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at, "Nya Sato's serve is way more powerful than they actually said in that. In his match against Hideyoshi, his serve made the record speed."

Ryoma glanced up at me. This was the first time I had been able to see his eyes and they were striking. "Yeah, I know, but Yamagata's serve is way more powerful…Sato's serve is just fast. Did you see their match at the Australia Open?"

I nodded my head as I sat down next to him. "Yeah. It was pretty sweet; I think Yamagata and Sato have the best chance for making a name for Japan in the tennis world."

"We will have to see how they perform at Wimbledon, though, to really see," He noted, his fingers flew up to grasp the tip of his hat. I couldn't help but smile slightly as I nodded. I couldn't believe that I couldn't remember this kid! He loved tennis almost just as much as I did.

I grinned. So this was Ryoma Echizen, the "Prince of Tennis", huh? I'd have to play a match against him sometime.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed! :D And to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and alert list. I really appreciate it! I urge you guys to review, because I really do take into account what you say and try to fix the things you critique.

BridgeofInsanity: thanks for reviewing! It is interesting you mention dialogue because honestly with this story the dialogue has come the easiest so far. :-) Yeah, tears and hugs aren't really something either Ryoma or Hikari are likely to do. It's not really in character for them lol thanks again!

EILydude: Thanks for reviewing! I realize the first chapter was a bit boring, but thanks for reading it anyways! Hopefully this chapter is more exciting, and this chapter is about 1000 words longer. Thanks again for reviewing!

Thanks again to all the lovelies who have reviewed and added this stories to their alerts/favorites. I truly appreciate it and love you all! ^^

-Late Night Angel

P.S. Line divides simply mean that there has been a large gap in time, and in this case from during school to after school then from after school to night. I didn't want to confuse anyone when it suddenly changed.

* * *

><p>"We are going to start a fanclub for Ryoma-sama! And I will be president!" proclaimed a brown haired girl loudly. I think her name was Tomoka. The girl's friend, Sakuno Ryuzaki (I did know her name! She was the boys' tennis coach's granddaughter), looked embarrassed as she tried to get her friend to calm down. I glanced over in their direction, annoyed. The one day I had opted to stay in the classroom for lunch period and they were being all loud and noisy.<p>

"The guy is cute and all, but jeez a fanclub?" I turned to look over at the blonde on my right who had spoken, Aiko Minimari. Her parents were both Americans who had started a business here in Japan just before Aiko was born. Aiko and I were good friends; she has practiced jujitsu at my dojo since she was in grade school. She was the closest thing to a best friend that I had, and we didn't even hang out that much.

"It's only because he is some tennis prodigy," This time it was Shouta Kinimoto who spoke up. He was looming over Aiko's shoulder as she ate her lunch. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose as he glanced down at the rest of us girls. Shouta has spiky brown hair with light brown eyes, he's kind of cute, but a little nerdy for my tastes. "Tomoka and Ryuzaki-san seem to have taken to being about of his posse. Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo already follow him around like lost puppies." I knew those boys. They were from class 1-B. Aiko and I had gone to primary school with Kachiro.

It kind of amazed me how fast news got around about a new kid in school. It was only two days after my dinner with the Echizens and all the first years at Seigaku now knew Ryoma, especially the girls. From what I could gather the big scoop was that he had made a group of second years eat their words at a game of hit the can on the tennis courts yesterday. I wished sorely that I had seen it. I wanted to see his skills; he must have been good to win four junior national American titles.

"First off, Shouta-kun stop being creepy and sit down or go away." She glanced up at Shouta, who pulled his chair over in response with a pointed glare at Aiko. She continued, "I just think it is a bit overrated is all. What do you think Kari-chan?" Aiko's blue eyes were now directed at me. Kari was what many of my friends opted to call me. I didn't really have a preference either way, some called be Kari and other chose to go by my full name Hikari.

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "I think it is a bit overrated, too…but I would like to see him play. He doesn't seem all that impressive…he actually looked kind of girly to me," I quipped as I nibbled on some of my food. I didn't mention that my father was friends with his father, or that we were apparently childhood friends (I still couldn't remember much, though it was slowly coming back to me).

Aiko laughed, "He did look a little girly didn't he?"

"You take that back!" Suddenly Tomoka was right by our circle of desks. "Ryoma-sama is almighty and totally cute! He does not look like a girl!" She was glaring at Aiko and I. I exchanged a slightly bewildered glance with Aiko. What on earth was this girl's problem? She needed to take a chill pill.

"Relax Osakada-san, jeez."Aiko told her as she ran her hand through her hair. "It's not like we were planning on killing him." I couldn't help but snicker at the thought. I could just imagine Aiko going at Ryoma with a knife. The whole image was kind of amusing.

The snickering, of course, earned me a swift glare from Tomoka. I held my hands up defensively and tried to smile apologetically to placate her. This girl was really annoying. No wonder I never became friends with her.

"T-tomo-chan, you shouldn't bother them," Had Ryuzaki been there the entire time? She was so quiet! She didn't even look us in the eye as she spoke to her best friend. Ryuzaki had always seemed nice enough to me, though I never understood those braids! They practically went down to her knees. How could she do anything? They'd just get in the way with sports.

"How do you even know Ry-um I mean Echizen, Osakada?" I asked while cursing myself for being so informal. Although apparently we were childhood friends I didn't remember much of it and I don't think he did either…so I should probably act as if we just met. After all I did only get introduced formally two days ago…he probably doesn't even remember me.

"Sakuno knows him!" Tomoka informed me, thrusting her hands on her hips. She didn't seem to notice my slip of tongue. "They're friends!"

I couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at that statement. Sakuno blushed immediately in response. Did Sakuno have a crush on Ryoma? "N-No Tomo! I just met him! He plays tennis, and I saw a match of his."

"We know he plays tennis," Shouta was glancing at Sakuno and Tomoka with an annoyed expression on his face. I couldn't help but question his motives. I was pretty sure that he had a crush on Aiko, so he was probably just trying to make Ryoma look bad so that Aiko wouldn't join Tomoka's fanclub. I almost snorted at the thought; Aiko was no one's fan. She was way too headstrong for that. It was part of the reason we got along so well. "I think everyone knows that. The rumor is he is going to be in the intra-ranking tournament."

"Nya! He gets to try out for regulars! No fair!" I might have said that a little louder than was necessary…oops and I maybe might have pouted…just a little bit.

"Ah, that's right, you wanted to try out for the regulars on the girls' team and they said no, right?" Aiko looked mildly amused by my outburst as she giggled quietly. I tended to be very quiet in school, though in reality I was actually kind of loud and energetic most of the time.

"Yeah! They said it was only for second and third years," This time I managed to contain the pout on my face. "The captain was adamant."

"Hey Takahashi-san! You're in the tennis club right? Is the rumor true? The one about the new kid getting to try out for regulars?" Aiko called over to Takahashi across the room. He looked up from his conversation with a few other guys. Apparently this discussion was going to involve our entire class before lunch was over. I was thankful that Ryoma was not in our class. I had no idea how this was going to affect him. He would either get an even bigger head or be embarrassed. Though, he didn't strike me as the kind of guy who would get embarrassed easily.

"Yeah it's true. The intra-ranking tournament roster was posted yesterday and Echizen's name is on it. It's really amazing," Takahashi spoke reverently as he spoke of Ryoma. Jeez, did this kid make that big of an impression? "The tournament starts today."

"That's because Ryoma-sama is amazing! He is definitely going to be a regular." There was Tomoka again. How could she be so passionate about a boy she had just met?

"Hmm, maybe I should get to know him," Aiko was grinning a slightly sadistic grin in Tomoka's direction. "This fanclub of your's Osakada?"

"You're not allowed to join," Tomoka declared glaring at Aiko. "You made fun of Ryoma-sama!"

"Tomo-chan…the teacher will be back soon, c'mon." Sakuno said as she tugged on Tomoka's arm gently. Tomoka, surprisingly, went without much of a fight. She was simply just glaring at Aiko and I. Did we make an enemy?

"We should get to know her better, she's fun to torture. " Aiko smiled at me and I couldn't help but laugh. A few minutes later the teacher came back in and we all had to break up our groups and return our desks to their original position and everyone put Ryoma Echizen to the back of their mind.

Except for me…I had a new resolve. I needed to get to know this kid better.

* * *

><p>"Stupid third years making us sweep," I muttered as I exited the girls' locker room in my school uniform. I shouldered my tennis bag and started towards the gate. "If I am late to gymnastics again Yoshida-sensei will murder me!"<p>

Almost every day after tennis practice I had gymnastics and then at night my uncle made me practice jujitsu. Then, of course, was all the homework for school. My mother promised that if my grades slipped tennis club would be the first to go. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time.

As I rounded the corner of the gate I saw Ryoma Echizen's back walking in the same direction that I needed to go.

"Echizen!" I called as I ran to catch up with him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder to look at me. "Hey!" I said as I finally caught up to him. He nodded his head in greeting. Not much of a talker this one.

"I heard that you are participating in the intra-ranking tournament. That started today didn't it?" I waited for his nod of confirmation before I continued, "How did that go?"

He shrugged and adjusted his tennis bag. "I didn't get eliminated and I beat a regular." He honestly looked utterly bored with my company. "The rest is tomorrow."

"Nya you're so lucky! The girls' team won't let me try out for the regulars!" I complained as I fell in step with him. I placed my hands behind my head casually, "All about seniority. You're super lucky Tezuka let you try out."

"I just want to go to nationals," Ryoma said with a shrug of his shoulders. "The best way to do that is to become a regular."

"Nationals, huh? Big dreams," I remarked. This kid was ambitious, but I'm not going to lie I would love to go to nationals. As a first year as well! He would make huge headlines in the tennis magazines. Tennis Pro Monthly especially gave a lot of attention to upcoming student tennis stars.

"Hn."

"Hey, do you even remember me?" I asked suddenly. He had been looking at me oddly since I had caught up with him. He did seem to be in his own world…but how could he not remember me? We'd just met two days ago! He couldn't possibly be that clueless…

He shook his head. "Sorry."

I laughed. He really was that oblivious! This caused Ryoma to look at me with an even weirder look. He probably thought I was deranged. I shook my head. "That is kind of unbelievable. We just met like two days ago."

"Are you going to tell me your name or not?" He looked very annoyed and I couldn't stop myself from snickering at his face. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and scowled at me. He actually kind of looked adorable when he was mad.

I grinned wickedly at him. "Maybe."

He rolled his eyes. "You're annoying."

"And you're oblivious," I countered sweetly. "Play a match against me and maybe I will tell you my name."

"Tch, fine. There is probably a court around here somewhere." I smiled at him.

"Awesome."

"Kari!" My head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice. I looked up to see Ringo standing with her hands on her hips. Ringo is a girl in my gymnastics class/team. She had long flowing black hair and beautiful brown eyes. I didn't mind her, but she could be a bit loud. "You're going to be late!"

"Nya! I forgot!" I exclaimed as I took off running towards Ringo. It was amazing the things I forgot when I started to think about tennis. Maybe this was why my mother insisted I do other activities. "We'll play a match later, kay Echizen? Don't forget!"

"Are you going to tell me your name or not?" Ryoma called after me. I almost laughed at his expression. He looked both bewildered and annoyed at the same time. I wondered if he remembered our conversation the other day and that was why it bothered him that he did not know my name.

I grinned at him. "Hikari, my name is Hikari Tanaka."

* * *

><p>"I… am too… tired!" I complained from my spot on the floor. I was sprawled out on the floor kind of like a snow angel as I glared up at the ceiling. My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I panted. A moment later, Touya's grinning face blocked my vision of the ceiling. Touya was towering over me with a towel in his hand. His face was filled with amusement. He dropped the towel on top of my face.<p>

"C'mon Kari, you need to build up your endurance." I snatched the towel and sat up with my bottom still on the floor. I wiped my face with the towel to remove the sweat. "We have only been at it for an hour."

"You do three sports practices a day and see how long you can last at eight-thirty at night." I told him as I glared. He was ignoring my glare as he too went over to grab a towel. He was dressed in his keikogi (which is basically the karate uniform) and his dark brown hair was barely wet compared to my hair which was matted to my forehead and neck. He broke a sweat while sparring with me, but probably only because he had been helping and participating with classes all afternoon.

By the time I get back from gymnastics, do my homework, and eat dinner all the classes have been dismissed for the day. So my brother, uncle, and father take turns sparring with me at the end of the day to practice jujutsu. Needless to say, it generally ended up with me on the floor asking them to call it a night. Don't get me wrong, I am a black belt (though I just earned it about a month ago), but when you are going against the strongest people at the dojo you do tend to get your butt kicked.

"Excuses, excuses," he wagged his finger at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and stuck my hand out so he could help me up. He scoffed, but a grin graced his face as he came over, grabbed my hand, and with one swift movement pulled me to my feet.

"Wimp," He said teasingly. I was about to respond when my mom called out suddenly,

"Hikari! You have a guest," I tilted my head at her in confusion.

"Seriously? Who?" I asked curiously. I reached my hands up to stretch out my back as Touya headed over to grab his normal clothes. Who on earth would be visiting at this time of night?

My mom moved aside to reveal none other than Ryoma Echizen. He held up a jacket as if it were his defense to him visiting. I glanced at it and recognized it immediately. And my brother called me a ditz?

"Oi, that's my soccer jacket. I had wondered where I left it!" Touya said as he emerged from behind the screen only in a pair of jeans with his shirt draped over his arm. "Thanks!" He said as Ryoma tossed him the jacket. "I'll go put this in my room." With that Touya left and my mother seemed to have left rather quickly after introducing Ryoma.

This was awkward. I turned around to go grab my clothes as Ryoma stood there with his hands stuffed in his jacket. He had put his baseball cap back on, I noted. He hadn't worn it after school.

"You and I were friends," he said quite suddenly. "When we were kids."

I turned around to face him somewhat surprised. Did that mean he remembered me? Did he remember being friends with me? Despite the fact, that I couldn't seem to conjure up more than a few memories. His eyes seemed to be staring at the wall behind me quite fixedly.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah…apparently. Do you remember?"

He nodded his head. "A little. I used to call you Hika-chan. I didn't remember till you told me your name. We played tennis with my dad." He admitted as he finally moved from his place in the doorway. I laughed as a memory suddenly dawned on me. It had been a hot summer day when Ryoma and I played tennis against his father, while his father grinned at us and lectured about how lazy we were. We were panting and covered in sweat and dirt from trying to retrieve the balls.

"Yeah we sucked, didn't we? He had us chasing those balls every which way." It was interesting to me how seeing him was sparking some of my memories. We were so young; it's not surprising that I didn't remember a lot. I don't remember a lot of things from before I was eight.

Ryoma allowed himself a small grin. "It suddenly just dawned on me earlier today. You didn't act like you knew me."

I took a seat on the ground Indian style. My legs felt like lead at this point. "Honestly, I didn't remember you. My dad said we were friends, but I couldn't remember. It would be weird to act familiar with you. Plus you've already got quite the reputation it just would've created trouble if I claimed you were my friend."

"Yeah, I guess." We sat in silence for a few moments just staring at each other. This was still extremely awkward. Sure we were friends when we were kids, but that didn't mean we had to be friends now. I mean, for all I know, we could be completely different people than we were back then.

"Do you really want to have a tennis match?" He asked turning to look at me. "You don't seem very focused on Tennis."

"Yes definitely I want to have a match with you. I want to see if you are as good as everyone says you are." I told him, rolling my eyes. Did he think I was joking around earlier? I actually couldn't wait to have a match with him! I wanted to see the Prince of Tennis in action for myself. "And as for focusing on tennis, trust me, I would if I could. My mom insists I do gymnastics and the jujutsu is kind of a family tradition even my older sister does it and she is the least athletic person you will ever meet."

"Are you any good?" He asked, doubtfully. His eyes were now gazing around the dojo.

"What? At tennis?" I asked. He turned to look at me and nodded. I huffed and crossed my arms. "Yes, I am. I've won my fair share of tournaments in Japan. I may not have as impressive as a resume as you, but I can hold my own."

He smirked; his golden eyes flashing under the lights. "We will have to see in our match."

I grinned in response. "We will."

I saw a grin flash across his face before he started to turn away. "I gotta go. I wasn't supposed to be here long."

I stood up and nodded. "I'll walk you out."

The walk to the door was silent and brief. But…it didn't feel as awkward as it had before and as he opened the door to walk out I decided to take a chance.

"Hey Ryoma…." I hesitated. I wondered if it was okay to call him that after such a short amount of time since we had just met (again). He didn't seem to mind as he cocked his head to look at me. "Do you…wanna…walk to school together tomorrow? I mean you live like ten minutes away and my house is right on the way and all…it would be nice to have company."

I cursed myself for the blush I knew was covering my cheeks. I wasn't asking the boy out! Simply a walk to school. I wanted to be friends with Ryoma and hanging out is what friends did. I was enjoying his company, so far, and found him entertaining. This wasn't inappropriate right?

He shrugged his shoulders. He didn't seem fazed by the request at all. He acted as if I was simply asking his name. "Whatever. I'll be here at 7:30."

I let out a breath of relief. "Okay. See you tomorrow, Ryoma-kun."

"Later…" a beat later, "Hika-chan."

I smiled as I closed the door behind him. I exhaled a deep breath. Friends with Ryoma Echizen. I could do that. After all, I'd done it once before.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone! :D Hope all is well! Here is chapter 3 as promised. I am about halfway through chapter four, though normally I like to be done with the next chapter before posting I felt meeting the deadline was more important! Also, I know this isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but bear with me I am going to try to make this story as exciting (yet believable) as possible. I also apologize for this chapter being not so long…the next chapter will be extra-long to make up for it.

On to reviewers!

Bridgeofinsanity: I am glad last chapter had you smiling! :] Making people smile is always a great bonus of writing. Heh and yes Hikari gets her butt handed to her in a few things, she isn't perfect. I understand why you love Touya, because to be honest I've got a soft spot for him as well! He gets a nice scene in chapter four with Hikari, so no worries he will be making his fair share of appearances (along with the rest of her family)! Thanks so much for reviewing!

Odd Candy: Thanks for reviewing! I am really glad you like it!

As always I am very appreciative of all who reviewed, added this to their alert, and favorited it!

Enjoy and review my lovelies! :]

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><p>"C'mon. Let's go get a burger, kay Kari? I'm starved!" Aiko said. She was leaning against her desk with her hands resting on the top of the desk. Her blue eyes were glancing out the window to the blue sky. She probably couldn't wait to go outside and have her afternoon run.<p>

"Maybe later, Aiko-chan. There's no tennis club today for girls, so I'm going to go watch the intra-ranking tournament." I told Aiko as I picked up my books from my desk. I started to walk towards the door and she followed me. It was finally the end of the day! Thank goodness. I was eager to go to the tennis matches.

"You just want to watch Echizen," She was grinning this sneaky little grin at me. I knew what she was implying and because of that my cheeks flushed ever so slightly. Aiko probably thought I was becoming a fan, like Osakada and Ryuzaki.

"So what if I do?" I asked defensively. "I want to see how good he is, everyone keeps talking like he is some tennis God. I want to see for myself. Not to mention the rest of the regulars are fun to watch as well." I was holding my books close to my chest while glaring slightly at Aiko. I didn't need anyone thinking that Ryoma and I were anything but friends.

"Sure, sure," she said dismissively still grinning at me. "Just don't join Osakada's fanclub and we're fine."

I rolled my eyes. "That boy has a big enough ego, I'm sure; I would never inflate it even more by joining her fanclub. That is like a crime to humanity."

Aiko laughed. "That's true. Oh, hey I wanted to ask you something." She stopped walking and grabbed my arm very suddenly. She pulled me into a corner and looked around the hallway looking each way four times before turning back to me. I stared at her bewildered; what the heck was this girl on? Was she going to ask me to kill someone or something?

She looked me straight in the eye with the most serious look that I was sure Aiko could muster. "Did you and Echizen walk to school together today?"

I nearly fell down from the ridiculousness of the question. She had made it seem like she was about to deliver some life or death secret! "Yes. He lives like ten minutes away from me. Jeez, what is with the secret agent act?"

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I wanted to make sure Osakada wasn't around to kill you for being with her 'Ryoma-sama'"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I said waving my hands in front of her face frantically. "Let's get one thing straight okay?" I placed my hands on my hips and looked straight at Aiko. "Ryoma-kun and I ARE NOT dating okay? We are_ friends_. Only friends."

Aiko opened her mouth to say something and acting preemptively I shoved my hand over her mouth. "Only friends," I repeated glaring at her. "I have no interest in dating him. Honestly, I just want to play tennis with him, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, but nodded her head and I dropped my hand. "Fine. I get it. Since when are you friends with him, though? I mean, Ryoma-kun? You've only known the guy a day!"

"He and I were friends when we were younger before he moved to America." I admitted tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. She was the first person aside from my family who I told this to. Last night after Ryoma left I told my mother and father what he wanted. My father was thrilled. He said he was glad that we would be friends again. I think he was more thrilled because it might possibly mean more visits to Nanjiro.

"What!" Aiko exclaimed. "Why didn't you mention this yesterday in lunch!"

I snorted. "With the way Osakada was going on? Are you kidding me? She would have had my head! And anyways…I didn't even know if he remembered me."

"Okay, I guess I get it." Aiko relented, finally.

I crossed my arms. "Good. Now can I go please? I really do want to see this tournament."

She sighed. "Yeah sure. I'll go with you." She said as she finally moved to let me out of this stupid corner.

"You hate tennis," I reminded her as I followed her out. Aiko shrugged causing her blonde hair to fall behind her shoulders.

"I have nothing better to do." She walked ahead of me and paused for a moment for me to catch up. She looked back at me and smiled. "And anyway, I want to see what's got you so interested! You hardly give anyone the time of day."

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><p>"Wow, he is good."Aiko stated in awe. She and I were standing in the sidelines next to Osakada, Sakuno, and the three boys that hang out with Ryoma. Aiko was staring at the game fascinated, which surprised me because she really didn't like tennis. She once told me it was too boring for her and that she would stick with jujutsu. "But that third year is winning right?"<p>

"It's like Echizen is playing a game against himself," said Kachiro. His eyes following the game with worry. Ryoma was in the middle of playing a match against the third year Inui. Inui played data tennis, I learned rather quickly. Basically he spent all his time gathering data on his opponents and then calculating the chances of each shot and how to return them. It was all about precision.

Data tennis had always pissed me off. What possible fun was there in that kind of tennis? In actual tennis you need to be able to counter any attack at anytime, you can't possibly know every single possibility. I think the belief that you know everything about the opponent just make the data tennis player eat his words.

"There is no way he can beat himself!" Horio exclaimed earning him a swift glare from both Osakada and Katsuo. Katsuo had been adamant the entire match that Ryoma would in fact win and make it to the regulars' team.

"Ryoma-kun isn't going to lose." I said calmly my eyes never leaving the match. This was fascinating. Ryoma never lost his cool or his confidence for that matter.

"What do you mean Kari? He is losing." Aiko said, glancing over at me.

I shook my head and looked over at the others. "Inui-senpai has only seen a few of his matches, firsthand right? Even if he gathered data from his tournaments in America…Ryoma-kun is the kind of guy to hide his best tricks for last. You can bet the data Inui-senpai has on Ryoma is only half done."

"Of course, my Ryoma-sama can do anything!" proclaimed Osakada proudly. "Go Ryoma-sama! Kick his butt!"

As if to confirm what I had said, Ryoma began to jump up and down on the court.

"What is he doing?" Aiko asked. "Why is he jumping up and down?"

"No way…" I said, surprised despite myself. He was going to try that step? I recognized it, but barely. I had read an article on the step not too long ago and the principle of it. Had Ryoma-kun really mastered it? I was pretty sure he was going to attempt the split-step…but that was something they did in the pros! Not in junior high school…

"I recently learned a new step." Came Ryoma's voice from the court. He continued to hop up and down calmly as Inui-senpai stared at him perplexed. "I had wanted to save it for the nationals!"

I let out a laugh and Aiko gave me a strange look. He truly meant to go to nationals. This kid was something else entirely. He began to declare where he would be hitting the ball shortly after. I was beginning to see that Ryoma was very cocky.

It wasn't long after that that Ryoma defeated Inui seven games to five. The rest of the games Ryoma won with ease, hardly even breaking a sweat with most of them.

To say I was impressed with Ryoma's tennis playing would be an understatement. I knew Ryoma had to be good (he won four national titles after all!), but never did I imagine he was this good.

I probably should have been scared off by his skill. However, all it did was make me even more excited for when I could play a match against him. After all, it was by playing stronger players that you got even better right? That's the reason I played against my father as much as I could. Ryoma would help me become even better at tennis, so that I could take nationals when it was finally my time.

"R-Ryoma-kun is very good isn't he?" I turned to see Sakuno smiling at me nervously. I hadn't realized that most of the others had dispersed. I shrugged my shoulders. Aiko had taken off about halfway through Ryoma's other matches to make her class at the dojo. I told her I would see her later.

"He's okay." I said. He was more than okay, of course, but I didn't really want to feed his apparently monstrous ego even if I was just talking to Sakuno. "It's impressive he made the regulars' team."

She nodded. I watched as her eyes followed Ryoma's retreating form towards the locker room. "He's amazing. I wish I were that good."

"Is he the reason you joined the tennis club? Because you like him?" I asked. Sakuno had very recently joined the girls' tennis club. I hadn't really realized that the timeline coincided to Ryoma's appearance at Seigaku. However, it made sense; especially if she had met him before he came to Seigaku.

"What?" Sakuno's whole face turned red in a moment. "N-no! I mean…o-of course not." She rambled nervously. Her eyes were again glancing off in the direction that Ryoma had left.

I laughed. "It's okay, Sakuno-chan. Your secret is safe with me!" I patted her on the shoulder while grinning at her. Her face remained as red as a tomato. "Come on, Ryoma-kun should be done by now, right? Let's go congratulate him!"

She nodded with a shy smile on her face. Sakuno really was a sweet girl. I didn't really like her best friend, but Sakuno I could handle. Sakuno and I headed off towards the main gate where Ryoma probably stood with his horde of boys.

"How do you know Ryoma-kun, Hikari?" Sakuno asked quietly when we were about ten feet away from the main gate. I looked up to see Ryoma was standing at the gate looking bored. He was glancing around as Kachiro, Katsuo, and Horio talked to him.

I smiled slightly. "It's kind of a long story."

Sakuno didn't look satisfied, but she nodded her head quietly because we were approaching Ryoma. Ryoma looked up at our entrance and he sent a lazy smirk in my direction.

"What'd you think?" He asked. "Reconsidering the match yet?"

On the way to school this morning Ryoma and I discussed when we would have our match and decided that this weekend was going to be our best bet. He had told me that I didn't know what I was getting into and that if after watching his matches today I wanted to back out he wouldn't hold it against me. I had simply rolled my eyes and told him he shouldn't hold his breath.

"You wish." I flicked my hair behind my shoulder, ignoring the strange glanced that the others were giving me. I simply grinned at Ryoma. "You were okay. I'm still gonna kick your ass later."

"Okay?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow. He sounded surprised. "Just okay?"

I nodded, but ran my fingers through my hair. I hadn't come over here to critique his game, though I was certainly going to do that later when we were alone. "That's not why I came over here, anyways, just wanted to say congratulations! This is a big thing you know?"

He nodded, "I know. Thanks." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. I looked over at Sakuno to see she was standing quietly with her eyes glued to the ground. Hadn't she come over here to say congratulations to Ryoma as well?

"Ryoma is going to go against some of the best tennis players in junior high tennis!" said Horio. "Seigaku is some of the best, though, of course."

"Yeah! They were all really amazing. Did you see Momo-senpai's matches? His dunk smash is so cool." This time it was Kachiro who spoke. His eyes were alight with excitement as he talked about his senpai. Ryoma, on the other hand, was looking bored again and was turning to leave. Sakuno's chances were dwindling. I had to act fast.

"Ryoma! Sakuno-chan had something to tell you." I said suddenly causing everyone to look at me. I shoved Sakuno forward towards Ryoma and she glanced back at me bewildered. I simply grinned at her in encouragement. If she was going to go any further with this crush she needed to talk to him.

Ryoma was looking at Sakuno still looking somewhat bored. Would it kill him to smile? Sakuno's cheeks turned red under his gaze. It couldn't be healthy to have all that blood rushing to her head so often.

"Con-congratulations on making the regulars Ryoma-kun!" she finally managed to get out. She still had her head looking down at the ground, in order to hide her blush, I'm sure.

"Thanks." Was all he said in response, his golden eyes gazing behind Sakuno rather than directly at her. Sakuno looked positively pleased that Ryoma had even acknowledged her.

"I think we should go celebrate, let's get some food. I'm starved!" I said grinning at everyone and with that we were off to do what in coming months and years we would do so often that we would lose count of how often we did it.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! So I finally updated, sorry it's so late! For some reason the tennis match between Hikari and Ryoma was extremely difficult to write. I knew how I wanted it to go, but getting it down was another matter. I finally finished this chapter a few days ago. Anyways on to reviewers!

Sakura Ichigo Morihiko: I am glad you like Hikari! I am thrilled with the fact that people seem to love Hikari as much as I do. Don't worry Tomoka has quite the pill to swallow when she realizes that she will have to deal with Hikari if she wants to be friends with Ryoma. I am sorry it took so long to update

Starleatta: Hee, again I am thrilled that people are pleased with Hikari. I love her because I created her, but it tells me a good job when people enjoy reading about her and knowing she isn't a pain the ass is awesome! I strive very much to make the character realistic but likeable. She is forgetful =) She gets focused on something than forgets the other bits. You shall see how she fairs against Ryoma this chapter!

On a side note, I am seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the midnight showing tomorrow…anyone else? I am pretty sure I am going to cry. I can't believe it is almost over! I am actually watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as I upload this and I am getting all upset about it just thinking about it. :(

Anyway, enjoy! And remember I always love reviews :)

-Late Night Angel

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><p>"<em>Hika-chan! Give it back!" whined a small black-haired boy. He was probably about five-years-old and he had on a red shirt with blue shorts. The little boy's name was Ryoma Echizen and he was running after me as I put his baseball cap on my head and ran away up a hill. <em>

"_Nya, you have to catch me first Ryoma-kun!" I laughed and turned around to stick my tongue out at him. He glared at me and kept running at me. I couldn't help but giggle, as I reached the top of the hill I stopped to see if he could catch up. Ryoma quickly sprinted up the hill and stopped where I was. I stayed just out of his reach. _

"_Give me my hat back, Kari!" He pouted. "It's not fair! You're faster than me!"_

_I giggled and twisted his hat on backwards causing my barrette to fall out and allowing my long dark blue locks cascade down my back. I was trying to grow my hair long just like Rika-nee's. "I look so cute in it though! Don't I, Ryoma-kun?" _

_Ryoma's cheeks turned pink. "Give it back!" He reached towards the hat and I leaned back and lost my balance, I grabbed Ryoma's arm to keep myself from falling. However, all that did was bring Ryoma down with me as we both tumbled down the hill. _

_We both collapsed in laughter as we rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill. We didn't care that we were now grass stained and probably scraped up somewhere. I don't even know how we transitioned from falling to laughing, but here we lay laughing on our backs. His hat had fallen off my head somewhere in the fall and Ryoma seemed to have forgotten for a moment about his mission to get it back to me._

_Our laughter died down for a moment and I looked over at Ryoma. "Hey, Ryoma-kun?"_

"_Yeah?" He replied, his golden eyes staring into mine. _

"_Are we best friends? Yumi from next door says that Sakura is her best friend. I didn't know if I had one. Am I your best friend?" _

_He sat up and scratched his head. "Uh, I don't know. What's a best friend?"_

"_Rika-nee says a best friend is your favorite friend and the person you will be friends with forever!" I informed him, standing up and pushing grass off of my shorts._

_He got up and walked over to his hat. "Then yeah you're my best friend!" He told me as he picked up his hat and put it on his head. He flashed a toothy grin at me. "Am I your best friend?" _

_I ran over to him and smiled. "Yeah! We'll be best friends forever, okay? No matter what! Pinky promise?" I held out my left pinky to him. He smiled and entwined his small pinky with mine. _

"_Promise!" _

"Kari…Hikari, wake up!" said a voice loudly in my ear. Something was shaking me. I winced slightly and turned over to try to bury my face in my soft pillow. What the heck was going on? "Kari! Come on, already, you lazy bum!" Someone pulled my arm and my body landed on the hard floor with a thud.

"OW!" I shouted as my eyes flew open. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I accused as I turned my fierce glare on the source of my pain, my sixteen year old brother Touya. "It's SUNDAY! We don't have school."

"But, we do have to clean the dojo, and anyway you would sleep the day away if I let you." Touya was looking down at me as I sat on the floor.

His hands were on stuffed in the pockets of his jeans and he wore a skin-tight black t-shirt. My brother was very well built with impressive muscles lining his lean form. That is what being athletic did for you, especially when you were actually good at all the activities you participated in. His brown hair was messy like he hadn't combed it yet. I could clearly see amusement in his blue eyes even as annoyance flashed across his face. Objectively, I guess he was pretty attractive. Next to him I looked like the ugly duckling in my ratty old t-shirt and a pair of his old shorts that served as my pajamas.

"I would not. I just like to sleep, you know it is very important for a growing girl to be well-rested." I informed him as I finally pulled my sore body off the floor. "And plus…I am playing a tennis match against Ryoma this afternoon. I don't have time to clean."

"I have a date this afternoon, I'd like out of it as much as you do, but it is part of our duties." Touya said, glancing at my alarm clock on my desk. It was far earlier than I wanted to be up on a Sunday. "Anyway, if we both clean and get to it fast we can both be out of here with plenty of time to spare."

My eyebrows flew up in surprise. "You have a date? With who?"

His cheeks grew red for a moment. Touya was flustered? This was not something you saw every day! However, the fact that he had a date was not something you saw every day either. He was Mr. perfect, straight-A, athletic, good looking, polite, and kind. Most girls wanted to date him, judging by the amount of phone calls we got from girls asking for him, but Touya never dated. He didn't seem to be interested in girls, and when I had asked him once he simply said he didn't have time. That he needed to dedicate himself to his jujutsu. "A girl from my class. Get dressed, will you?"

"Tell me about your date first!" I insisted, sitting down on the edge of my bed. "You said you weren't going to date! So this girl must be special."

He sighed. "How about this? I will tell you about her when we are cleaning. Now get dressed!"

"Fine, fine," I grumbled as I got up and walked over to my dresser. He was still standing there with his feet planted on the ground. I gave him a pointed look. "Are you going to leave?"

He smirked; his blue eyes glinting mischievously. "Just wanted to make sure you weren't going to go back to sleep the second I leave."

I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a hairbrush, off my dresser and hurled it at him. "Get out!" He dodged swiftly as he ran out the door, slamming it behind him and letting my brush hit the door and clang to the floor loudly. I sighed as I went over and picked it up. As far as big brothers go, Touya wasn't the worst I could have, that's for sure, I mean he treated me nice and everything, but sometimes…he really got on my nerves.

I thought about the dream I had just had as I got dressed. This was the third time this week I had dreamed of some sort of memory with Ryoma. I don't even know if they were memories or if they were just dreams. They seemed real enough and I remembered them so vividly. I couldn't believe they were just dreams.

We had walked to school every day of this week and walked home after tennis, or at least walked towards home when I had to go to gymnastics. I think spending time with him was triggering some of the memories that seemed to be showing themselves as dreams. We were really good friends back then and though we may not have been as close as we were friendship with Ryoma was easy. We had a lot in common and it was always amusing for me to tease him.

We just got along really well. It turned out that Horio and Katsuo weren't so bad either. Though, Horio had a big mouth, with nothing to back it up. Sakuno and I were actually getting along pretty well. I liked helping her with her tennis during tennis club. She obviously had a crush on Ryoma, but she didn't seem to care that Ryoma and I were friends, like Tomoka did. I had apparently rubbed Tomoka the wrong way because every time she was around she was glaring at me and giving me the cold shoulder. Sakuno said that Tomoka could be sensitive and that she would come around. It didn't really bother me.

Finally dressed appropriately I made my way to the kitchen where I grabbed an apple for breakfast and went into the dojo where Touya sat waiting patiently. "Couldn't get started without me?" I remarked walking over to grab a broom.

"And leave less work for you?" He grinned good-naturedly. "I don't think so."

I rolled my eyes and began to sweep. "Hey is Rika-nee coming over tomorrow for dinner?"

"She is supposed to….I heard Haruki is actually supposed to make an appearance."Haruki is my sister's fiancé. He is doing his residency currently (you know as a doctor) so we hardly ever see him. Seriously, since they have gotten engaged I have seen Haruki maybe one time. I didn't understand what Rika saw in the guy, honestly, he wasn't all that good looking and he was kind of nerdy.

"That means it is going to be awkward…I had hoped to skip out." I admitted, glancing out the door while I continued to sweep. "I hate hearing mom praise Rika-nee like she is some kind of goddess. If I hear 'Hikari, you should try to be more like your sister' one more time I am going to snap."

"If she knew it hurt your feelings mom wouldn't do it," Touya said. I snorted.

"How can that not hurt my feelings exactly? She is telling me she doesn't like who I am." I said, sweeping a little harder than necessary, now. Yeah, I was a little bitter okay? My mom and I didn't get along at all and most of it stemmed from the fact that I was never good enough for her. My grades were so-so, I was way too into tennis, and I couldn't stand anything girly. I was exactly what my mom didn't want, I was the opposite of my older sister. My older sister, Rika, who was beautiful, loved music, and had the voice of an angel. She was graceful, intelligent, elegant, poised, and fashionable. I mean, hell! She was even marrying a doctor!

"You don't get it, you're perfect in their eyes." I muttered. I heard Touya snort and he stopped cleaning to look at me.

"I'm not perfect, you know that."

"To them, you are." I reasoned. "You're smart. You're kind and polite. You're great at jujutsu, you are definitely going to take over the dojo when you are older. You are like a father's dream kid."

Touya shook his head causing his brown hair to sway back and forth. "You're being ridiculous and dramatic Hikari. Everyone knows you are dad's favorite because of you are so good at tennis and on top of it you actually like it."

I sighed. I didn't really feel like having this conversation with my brother. I tried to not let my mother's obvious dislike for me bother me. My dad did like me, but half the time I thought it really was just because of the tennis. Sometimes I felt like an outcast in my own family…kind of like I was the family disappointment. "I don't want to talk about it, Touya. Tell me about your date!"

"Hikari, I don't think you should avoid this…" he said softly. I couldn't bear looking into his concerned blue eyes because I was pretty sure if I did I would start crying. I had been annoyingly emotional since I had turned twelve. It seemed like I was angry without reason and crying the next minute.

"Come on, Touya. Stop avoiding the subject. I want to know about your date! Is she like the most beautiful girl in your entire class?" I asked forcing a grin. I would get him to drop this subject. I didn't want to be depressed when I hung out with Ryoma later. It seemed to work because Touya let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. I could see color rising to his cheeks.

"Her name is Amaya. She's in my class," was all he said. He was furiously putting things away where they belonged and I couldn't help but snicker. Touya was embarrassed!

"Is she preeetyy?" I asked in a sing-song voice. I was very much enjoying this.

"Yes," he grumbled his face red as a tomato. I laughed and pranced over to where he was. I pinched his cheeks good-naturedly.

"Aww, little Touya is growing up!" I teased. "He has a date!"

He swatted my hand. "Don't, or I'll break your wrist."

I backed off and dropped my hand because I knew he could break my wrist with a very simple move. Of course, he'd be in huge trouble we weren't allowed to use jujutsu moves on each other without the proper gear on. Touya had fractured Rika's wrist once when he was seven when they'd gotten into a particularly rough fight. Ever since then any use of the moves we learned in jujutsu against each other resulted in severe punishment. Touya had actually been spanked after that incident.

"What about you?" He asked, rubbing his face as if it would get rid of the color in it. "You've been spending an awful amount of time with Ryoma. What are you doing today?"

I scowled. "We are having a tennis match, and I am twelve! I don't want a boyfriend!"

He grinned and shook his head. "Guess I should be thankful your brain is so focused on tennis this time around. Keeps your mind off of boys!"

* * *

><p>"You can still back down," Ryoma said as we walked towards the tennis courts. I shook my head and shouldered my bag. "That way it won't be too humiliating."<p>

"For the last time, I am not backing down you unbelievably cocky jerk."

"It's not cocky if it is true. It's just confidence," Ryoma informed me, with a smirk on his face. I think I liked it better when he didn't talk at all. The really annoying part was that unlike Horio Ryoma actually had the skills to back up his statements. It truly was confidence because he always managed to show people up.

I rolled my eyes. "Right, I think it's just arrogance. You've never even seen me play tennis. I could be way better than you."

He smirked. "I doubt it."

I smacked him upside the head as we finally reached the tennis courts. "Will you keep your mouth shut til the game is over?"

He rubbed his head gingerly as he glared at me from under the rim of his hat. "That was unnecessary."

"It was perfectly necessary." I told him sticking my tongue out at Ryoma. It really felt like I had known him forever. It all felt so natural to be teasing him and joking around. "Someone is going to kick your butt because of what you say, you know."

"Tch, if they can touch me." Ryoma replied setting his tennis bag down. He leaned over and grabbed his tennis racket out. I sighed as I grabbed my own racket.

"You're unbearable you know that right?"

"You wanted to hang out with me," Ryoma pointed out, a small grin tugging at his lips. I stuck my tongue out at him again. It seemed this was one response I could ever manage with Ryoma.

"Let's just play, okay?" I said, slightly irritated. He smirked and nodded.

"Rough or smooth?" he asked pointing the racket towards the ground.

"Rough." He spun the racket and it landed on the smooth side.

He smirked. He looked so smug! "You can serve first."

I rolled my eyes. I knew that the only reason he was letting me serve first was kind of like a handicap. I made sure he could see the face I made as I picked up three balls and put two in my pocket. I took the third and stood on the baseline.

"Hey you better use your left hand, Ryoma. I don't need your pity." I warned him giving him a pointed look. He simply shifted his tennis racket to his left hand without saying a word. I bounced the ball a few times, getting the feel of it. Finally I threw it up in the air with my right hand and swung the racket with my left to make a clean serve. I was a southpaw. Generally, it was an advantage, but I knew Ryoma was one as well (even if he did use his right hand most of the time) so it wouldn't do me much good in this match.

It hit just before the baseline and flew past Ryoma's lower elbow. He looked surprised as the ball flew past him. I smirked.

"You think you are the only one who has a few tricks up your sleeves? I told you, I'm good." I told him.

"The game has just begun. 15-love." Ryoma said, he planted his feet and readied for the next one. I pulled a ball out of my pocket and served again. This time he was ready. He returned it cleanly and I moved to the left and returned it. We volleyed back and forth for a while. Finally Ryoma scored on me and we were tied. We stayed mostly silent as we played. This wasn't a game where we could trash talk. We weren't playing to advance anywhere, we were just playing.

Of course, we were both too competitive to just let this be a friendly game. We hit the ball back and forth, neither of us giving way. Eventually I took the first game. Ryoma seemed surprised at my skill.

"Wipe that shocked expression off your face, Ryoma-kun." I said as I picked up another ball. I grinned sweetly at him. "You're not the only one who is good at tennis. After all, we did have the same start right?"

"Hn." Was the only response I got from him. Ryoma hated to be shown up. He talked so big because he could always back it up, but now maybe he was actually worried. Of course, better not to get cocky. It was only the first game and I've seen Ryoma make a comeback.

I served again, but this time Ryoma wouldn't be fooled by my tricks. He was ready. He returned my serve with a powerful stroke and I very nearly missed the return. Ryoma was quick on his feet, but he wasn't as fast as I was. I had always been very light on my feet, however, my speed didn't mean much against the strength of his shots. The truth of it was Ryoma was stronger than I was and my speed and flexibility barely compensated.

He also got to focus on tennis 24/7. His dedication and training would be an advantage over me who only got to practice tennis in my spare time, aside from tennis club. Our match seemed to pass so quickly, but subconsciously I knew we must have been at the court for nearly an hour as we neared our 4th game in the match.

"Hope you weren't getting too cocky." Ryoma said, his hand flying to the tip of his hat as he smirked. He had just taken another game from me. It left the score 2 games to 1. I huffed and ran my free hand through my hair.

"Don't you get too cocky." I replied, taking a stance and readying myself for his twist serve. I didn't know if I could return his twist serve, honestly. I had seen it enough times, but returning it was another matter entirely.

As I expected his next serve was a twist serve and it blew right past me. I hardly had time to move a muscle. For a moment I felt like I was playing my father; feeling completely incompetent in comparison with no chance of winning. I shook my head trying to clear my mind. I wasn't playing my father. I was playing a kid my age. A boy I went to school with. A boy I was friends with. I could handle him.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself for his next serve. This time I was able to return it, but it went out of bounds.

"Damn." I muttered as I watched the ball bounce outside the base line. Ryoma, dare I say it, looked somewhat impressed. The next time he served, I still hit it back out of bounds, but the third time I managed to return it. I smirked in triumph; finally the game was getting interesting.

"You really aren't bad." Ryoma commented, his breath coming out in slight huffs. I only managed a grin in response through my labored breathing.

In the end Ryoma won. Eight games to six. Overall, I wasn't completely upset about it.

I walked up to the edge of the net. He walked up on the opposite side and grinned at me as he held his hand out. "That was a good game."

I couldn't help the grin that spread over my face as I took his hand. That game was literally the most fun I had had in months! "Definitely."

This match proved what I had been suspecting for a while now: Ryoma and I could definitely be best friends again. I was starting to think we never stopped.


End file.
